pot lucks

I was wondering the other night about where the word "potluck" came from. It's kindof a strange word since it doesn't seem to have anything to do with food. After all, "pot" can mean a lot of different things! The reason I wondered was that as a kid, my parents would tell me about what some of their friends used to do when they would get together many years ago when a bunch of the folks who had just moved to San Francisco from Korea were just starting out. They would get together at someone's house or sometimes at a restaurant. There was a money pot and everyone would contribute a certain amount each time they came. At the end of the dinner, someone's name would be chosen and they would get all the money. Doesn't that sound like a potluck? The way it would usually work out was that whoever got the money that time was indeed the person who probably needed it most. I always thought it was a kinda neat way for a community of friends to take care of one another... although I suppose it could get expensive.

Anyway, come to find out that the term "potluck" really came from nothing more than taking your chances on what might be in the pot of food that someone that you may or may not know very well brought to the party:

potluck
1592, from pot (1) + luck, with notion of "one's luck or chance as to what may be in the pot."

what a letdown... I like my version of potluck better. But don't get me wrong... the neighbors, we potluck like nobody's business... yo.